1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a network management system and method and device for managing a communication network, particularly relates to the invention for a communication provisioning system which perform setting to a communication device required when communication service is provided.
2. Description of the Related Art
As communication is advanced, a demand for communication service of organizing a network of configuration and quality according to an order of a customer increases. Setting to various communication devices required when such communication service is provided to a customer is generally performed using a network management system. An operator of the network management system enters configuration data via an input device when the service is provided and manually performs setting.
As for the service, technique disclosed in Japanese published unexamined patent application No. Hei 9-74417 is proposed. According to the technique, the same setting data for a unit added for redundancy is stored in a setting data storage area beforehand independent of whether the unit is actually installed in a slot or not when the configuration of the installation of the unit used for redundancy is determined at the time of activating a communication device.
The technique has the following problems. First, a first problem is that data cannot be freely set according to the contents of service and quality required for the service. The reason is that setting data used for a communication device in the technique is fixed and fixed setting data is set to a unit the configuration of the installation of which is determined.
A second problem is that the direct operation of an operator is required in the technique. The reason is that a network management system that manages communication devices is based upon the existence of an operator or the concrete operation of an operator.
Further, a third problem is that when various communication devices configuring a network are set, effective technique related to setting is not disclosed or developed yet.
In the meantime, as to components configuring a network, various special servers provided with higher functions are published. For example, a design server is provided with a function of computing so as to determine a possible path in a network. Also, a policy server is provided with a function of making a policy as the policy of the management of a network dynamically activate. At the present time when a network is provided with high functions and becomes intelligent owing to distributed intelligent processing of these various servers, these servers are to be effectively utilized.
The object of the invention is to provide a communication service provision system , method and device which can set various communication devices required to realize communication service ordered by a customer without requiring an operator.
Another object of the invention is to provide a communication service provision system and it""s method which can reduce the load of an operator to realize communication service ordered by a customer by utilizing a policy server.
According to a first aspect of the invention, the communication service provision system is provided with operational flow storage part that stores operational flow composed of a series of operations that former operation in time is order processing for processing an order of a customer and the last operation is setting for setting configuration data to respective communication devices composing a network for realizing the order of the customer out of the respective operations as procedure every unit for providing communication service to the customer as an end user, corresponding server storage part that stores servers to execute respective operations stored in the operational flow storage part, operation termination detecting part for detecting the termination of respective operations stored in the operational flow storage part and operations switching part for reading operation to be executed next stored in the operational flow storage part every time the operation termination detecting part detects the termination of one operation and having the next operation executed by activating a server in charge of the operation.
That is, according to the first aspect of the invention, operational flow composed of a series of operations for providing communication service to a customer is stored in the operational flow storage part and the name of a server that executes individual operation is stored in the corresponding server storage part. These storage part may be also substantially one by combining these contents. Operation termination detecting part detects the termination of individual operation in operational flow and operations switching part enables the next operation to be executed in case the next operation is left. Therefore, after an order of a customer is processed by operation for former order processing in time, operations up to setting for setting configuration data to respective communication devices composing a network for realizing the order of the customer are automatically executed.
A second aspect of the invention is characterized in that the name of the policy server is stored in the corresponding server storage part according to the first aspect of the invention as a server for executing setting. The policy server is provided with a function for dynamically activating a policy as the policy of the management of a network. Therefore, an operator is released from the execution of setting.
A third aspect of the invention is characterized in that the name of a design server for route computing to determine a possible path in a network according to an order of a customer is stored in the corresponding server storage part according to the first aspect of the invention as a server in charge of operation for network design. Work for inputting information for selecting a route by an operator can be omitted by using the design server.
A fourth aspect of the invention is characterized in that the name of a customer care server is stored in the corresponding server storage part according to the first aspect of the invention as a server in charge of operation for order processing for processing an order of a customer. Hereby, a load of an operator is reduced.
A fifth aspect of the invention is characterized in that route data/policy data storage part that stores plural sets of route data prepared to select a route suitable for a customer and policy data used to determine a policy of the management of a network is provided to a system wherein a policy server executes setting and the policy server performs network design according to the contents of an order of a customer as operation before setting. That is, even a smaller-scale network can provide communication service in which a load of an operator is reduced by providing the role of a design server to the policy server.
A sixth aspect of the invention is characterized in that in the communication service provision system according to the fifth aspect of the invention, the policy server selects a communication device composing a route in network design. That is, the policy server selects a communication device composing a route on which service requested by a customer can be realized.
A seventh aspect of the invention is characterized in that in the communication service provision system according to the fifth aspect of the invention, the policy server selects a communication device composing a route in network design and generates configuration data set to the communication device.
An eighth aspect of the invention is characterized in that in the communication service provision system according to the second aspect of the invention, the policy server checks whether communication devices can be operated or not before setting configuration data to these communication devices. As a fault caused in a communication device existing on a route after a network is organized prevents the management of the network, it is checked beforehand whether a communication device is active or not.
A ninth aspect of the invention is characterized in that in the communication service provision system according to the first aspect of the invention, data which can be shared by respective servers stored in corresponding server storage part is stored in storage part which the servers can access. Even when a server in charge is replaced by switching operations, the utilization of data is facilitated by sharing data.
A tenth aspect of the invention is characterized in that operation definition part that defines respective operations stored in operational flow storage part according to time series and operation registration part that registers operations defined by the operation definition part in flow according to time series are provided to the communication service provision system according to the first aspect of the invention. Hereby, flexible operational flow can be also registered to a system in which the function of a server is subdivided.
An eleventh aspect of the invention is characterized in that in the communication service provision system according to the first aspect of the invention, operations switching part is provided with scheduling part that sets time when operation to be executed next is executed. Hereby, time when each operation is executed can be regulated and realistic correspondence can be acquired.